NtM – June 12, 2009 – Things To Do Edition

Good Friday Morning,

As if you haven’t noticed it’s been raining for the past week or so.

But it’s the perfect time to look at your streets and roads for signs of stormwater problems which will be evidenced by grit and sand spread out in ‘alluvial fans‘ across the pavement. While seemingly innocuous, that sand (which is carrying other pollutants) will end up in a lake or creek and have a negative effect on the quality of our recreational and drinking water supplies. So if you see a problem, call your town’s stormwater committee and let them know where it is. Take some photographs (like Brian’s in Wednesday’s column and again to the left) to document the problem and then let’s get them fixed.

Tony Caravetta and the Kent highway guys have been out in western Kent these past few days sweeping the streets which has made a marked difference in the amount of silt and sand flowing into local streams. Has your highway department been out? If not, call them and ask them why.

I’m in shape. Pear’s a shape, right?

A friend of mine pointed me to an article about how the nation is gearing up to be a lot healthier – whether it wants to or not. His main intent, not missed by these aging eyes, was that *I* should get in better shape for the upcoming election season in the belief that voters are more likely to vote for the better-looking candidates rather than the slothful ones. Okay, I got the hint. I’m guessing “pear-shaped” is out even though our planet is so shaped!

As I read the article and researched the President’s agenda, I noticed the term, “nanny state on steroids” being repeated over and again from right-wing commentators stating their objections to being told that McDonald’s is bad for them. But a red meat, high cholesterol, sugary/salty diet (our national diet) will soon surpass tobacco as the number one avoidable killer of Americans and while we pay more for health care than any other nation on this pear-shaped planet, we die younger, have a higher rate of obesity and are less healthy than most anyone else mostly because of that diet. Apparently we could use a nanny.

Rock snot:

I’ll bet your kids are going to get a laugh out of saying that! But it’s not funny. Quite the contrary, fewer things have come along that are as scary as rock snot, more professionally known as Didymosphenia geminata.

“Didymo” is an aggressively growing diatom that has spread from Europe to Canada, through the American west and is now making itself known here on the east coast. From an NPR report:

Serious fly fishermen may remember 2007 as the year that the invasive species known as “rock snot” turned into a national problem. For at a least decade, nasty carpets of this algae have been fouling up pristine fishing streams in the western United States. Then, last summer, it turned up in fishing streams in several eastern states.

and:

What’s certain is that by the early 1990s, massive rock snot blooms were fouling cold, clear rocky mountain streams in western states such as Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. Infestations sometimes stretched from bank to bank and covered several miles. Once the blooms appeared, it was impossible to make them go away.

Anyway, it’s now here. Samples have been collected from the Esopus creek up near Kingston signaling a warning we should all heed, for if this thing gets into your lake – it’s over. Didymo will spread across the bottom smothering everything in its path.

What can you do? Amazingly, it’s the simple things that matter: If you’re boating on one waterbody and then bringing your boat to another, wait at least 48 hours – in dry conditions – before placing the boat in the water. If you can’t, thoroughly power wash the boat with a bleach solution. The same holds true for your fishing gear: If you’re fishing Lake Mahopac and then want to fish Lake Carmel the next day, scrub your gear – including your lines, sinkers, bobs, boots, pants, sneakers… anything that might have come in contact with the water. Didymo can live for up to 48 hours out of water and a lot longer in as much as one, single drop.

Website Watch:

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Tonight:

Summer Shorts

8 PM – Depot Theater, Garrison Station – The Aery Theatre Company is proud to present SUMMER SHORTS, a series of original one-act plays about life, death, love, loss, hope, desperation, ecstasy… and every emotion in between. We’ve chosen these plays from the many that have been crafted at our bi-monthly workshops, held on the first and third Mondays of each month at the Depot Theatre. Production dates are June 12th – 21st at the Depot. Please contact the Depot box office at (845) 424-3900 for more info on the shows and the workshops.

Saturday:

Cold Spring Antiques Show

9AM – 5 PM Mayor’s Park at Fair Street, Cold Spring. What better way to spend a June Sunday than strolling alongside the Hudson River in the shadow of the majestic Hudson Highlands? Well, here’s an idea. Browse among rows of antiques dealers while you stroll. That’s the inviting combination proprietor Dave Cooke provides for the hundreds of antique collectors who make Cold Spring their destination point for his Cold Spring Antiques Show. The show, which will be held on Sun., June 14 from 9-5, will be held in Mayor’s Park near the end of Fair Street. Visitors to the show can ride the jolly green trolley throughout the Village and back to Mayor’s Park free of charge courtesy of the Cold Spring Antiques Dealers Association who sponsor the show. Admission: $6. Children free. For further info call Cooke at: (845) 265-4414 or visit:www.ColdSpringAntiqueShow.com.

Babes in the Woods

1:00 p.m. Westmorland Sanctuary Bedford, NY. Director Steve Ricker will lead a leisurely hike to show us the secret places where the young animals, birds, and even plants are hiding. All ages are welcome. Degree of Difficulty: Easy Register by calling (914) 666-8448. Dogs not allowed .

Thomas Paine and the Flame of Revolution

Hudson Highlands Land Trust Annual Family Festival

4PM – Garrison. This year’s Family Festival is shaping up to be our best ever, with music from bluegrass band No Brakes and folk artist Margaret Vetare, as well as a musical set especially for kids with Stacy Labriola & Friends. There will be a terrific BBQ dinner and lots of fun outdoor activities. New this year: a raffle with great prizes including a kayak from Hudson Valley Outfitters, a family photo shoot from Photography by Frank Famularo, and a summer veggie bounty basket from Second Wind CSA. Tickets are on sale now at the Land Trust office. Festival admission (inc. BBQ dinner) is: * $10 in advance / $15 at the door per individual and * $25 in advance / $30 at the door per family. All proceeds from these events benefit the Haldane School Foundation and The Garrison Children’s Education Fund in support of environmental programming in our schools. For more information, please contact HHLT at: 845-424-3358 or info@hhlt.org.

Music of The Grapes of Wrath: Readings and Songs

8PM – Cultural Center on Lake Carmel. The story of the Joad family in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is well-known having been a novel, a film and a play. Tonight it is the music of the period and the novel that will come alive in the performances of Sylvia Brooks, Steve Kirkman and Maggie Seligman. Admission: $10 ($9 AotL members). Tickets may be purchased on our home page or reserved by emailing rsvp@artsonthelake.org.

In this production, we use the text and ideas presented in the “general” chapters of the book as the source of most of our readings. And while we do perform some of the songs actually mentioned in the book, we have chosen in large part to incorporate other songs that capture and portray more powerfully the tone and thematic material that inform these “general” chapters and the novel as a whole. We believe that the Joad narrative and the themes contained in The Grapes of Wrath resonate all too clearly in the issues and concerns of the present day, and thus we chose to give emphasis to them in our production.

Annual Strawberry Festival

Noon- 5PM in Beacon Sloop Club – Rain or Shine. Come to the annual Beacon Strawberry Festival next Sunday, June 14, noon -5pm rain or shine. Free Admission and a wonderful day down by the riverside. Info: www.beaconsloopclub.org Amazing Hudson Valley local strawberries with fresh made whipped cream on warm fresh baked biscuits. Hear Pete Seeger, Spook Handy, Dan Einbender and Room 12 Kids along with many others. Free sails on the Woody Guthrie, children’s area with many activities for the young ones, lot’s of crafts and food vendors. WDST will be giving away a pair of concert tickets at this festival. A printable flyer is here.

“Drawing Revealed” – Artists in Conversation

4PM – Putnam Arts Council at Tilly Foster. Free Screening and discussion presented by the Putnam Arts Council and sponsored by SLS Health, Brewster, NY, Sunday, June 14, 2009, 4pm at Tilly Foster Farm, Rt. 312, Brewster, NY. www.putnamartscouncil.com (845) 278-0230. This wonderful independent film follows the filmmaker, Jaanika Perna, as she visits ten diverse and articulate artists in their studios to explore how they use conventional and non-conventional drawing as part of their creative process. The New York Times wrote “…an absorbing video”. The film was originally produced in conjunction with an exhibit in early 2008 at the Garrison Art Center. Bonus short video entitled Barbara Rothenberg: Art Out of Longing and Song” will also be shown. Ms. Perna, along with co-producer Susan English and some of the artists will be on hand for a post-film discussion. All welcome. Reservations Required.

Brewster Elks’ Club Flag Day Celebration

5PM – B.P.O.E. Lodge 2101 – Route 22 and Milltown Road, Southeast The Lodge will be serving complimentary hot dogs after the proceedings. Flag Day, 14 June, marks the anniversary of the adoption by Congress in 1777 of the Stars and Stripes as emblem of the nation. Celebrations of the flag began in local communities throughout the country during the nineteenth century, largely for the purpose of educating children in history. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson, and later, in 1927, President Calvin Coolidge, suggested that 14 June be observed as Flag Day. It was not until 3 August 1949 that the National Flag Day Bill became law, giving official recognition to 14 June to celebrate the flag.

Wednesday, June 17

Town of Kent CAC Meeting

Thursday, June 18

Kent Fiscal Watch

7:30 PM at the Lake Carmel Community Center Monthly Meeting. This will be the annual election meeting so we encourage all members to attend. 7:30PM at the Lake Carmel Community Center.

Somewhat Into the Future:

Friday, June 26

Leo Burmester Retrospective

7PM – 10 p.m. – Cultural Center on Lake Carmel. Opening Reception – “We are such stuff as dreams are made” Retrospective continues with 8 p.m. Performance June 27 by Daniel Burmester (GUTworks Theatre) of Rattlesnake in a Cooler by Frank South. Additional exhibit days: Sunday, June 28, 1-5 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, June 29-July 1, 7-9 p.m. Rattlesnake in a Cooler A one man show by Frank South. GUTWorks, a NYC/Vermont-based theater & film company, will be performing Rattle Snake in a Cooler at Arts on the Lake in Carmel, NY. The performance will be on Saturday night at 8pm. GUTWorks has amazed audiences again and again over the past three years with their dynamic theatrical events. The renowned theatre and film company will be presenting another, Ingeniously creative solo theatre experience. Daniel Burmester will be performing Rattlesnake in a Cooler, the gut-wrenching story of a man trying to find himself in all the wrong places.

Really Into the Future:

Saturday, July 11

Annual Garden Party at the Asylum

3PM – Onwards. Come celebrate the beauty of the highlands in western Kent. Rain or Shine! Bring some food for the pot luck and drink for the coolers, a blanket and/or some chairs, or just wear light, comfortable clothes and hang out on the grass in the field. We’ll have plates and forks and knives and spoons and cups so you can leave those at home.

Don’t forget your sunscreen. There’s afternoon shade near the edge of the forest so you can set up over there if you like. Last year the kids had a massive water fight to stay cool. No adults were harmed in the battle.

When the sun goes down the fire-pit becomes the place for gathering and we’ll be sure to have it blazing once it’s dark enough for the after-party which ran until 6AM last year.

The weather report projects 80º and partly sunny so we’ll have lots of ice and cool, non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverages on hand. What you could do:

Bring along some friends, the extended family, the neighbors, your kids, the dogs… pretty much anything and anyone that walks or rolls.

Bring your musical instruments, your talents and yes, even your accordions and kazoos. But be prepared to play them.

If you’re traveling from away or taste testing the barleycorn, bring your tent. There’s plenty of room to camp.

Thursday, July 23

Hudson River Watershed Alliance

10AM – 3PM At this meeting, we will learn about the current activities of each watershed group and what new issues you are facing in your efforts. In addition, we will collectively chart a course for organizing quarterly or semi annual watershed roundtable width=’100%’ meetings. The goal of this meeting is to find new ways in which you can learn from one another and move your local watershed efforts forward!
In preparation, please consider these questions and be prepared to discuss your related activities:

1. Since our last meeting (July 2008), what aspect of watershed planning protection has your group focused on?

2. What challenges have you faced and how has your group addressed these issues?

3. Is their mutual consent to commit to more frequent roundtable meetings? If so, how should we structure these events?